Chapter 3 - The Eviction
Tears of sheer, humiliated terror welled in Paige’s eyes. Surrounded by the glaring flashes of the press cameras and the disgusted whispers of Chicago's elite, the fantasy of her glamorous new life violently shattered.
Her hands shook as she unclasped the gold latch at her throat. She slid the heavy white sable from her shoulders. One of the security guards stepped forward, took the coat from her trembling hands, and draped it respectfully over his arm.
Paige didn't look at Nathan. She didn't wait for him to defend her. She realized in a single, devastating second that the man who had promised her the world had just been exposed as a fraud who didn't even own the suit he was wearing. She turned on her heel, pushed her way through the crowd of horrified guests, and ran out of the ballroom doors, abandoning him completely.
Nathan was left standing entirely alone in the center of the room, the legal documents still clutched in his shaking hand.
"You ruined me," he whispered, staring at me with a hollow, devastated realization.
"No, Nathan," I replied, my voice ringing with absolute finality. "I simply stopped maintaining the illusion that you were a decent man. You ruined yourself the night you decided my grief was an inconvenience."
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I turned to the event coordinator, who was standing paralyzed near the grand staircase.
"Please have Mr. Hale escorted off the premises," I instructed clearly. "His invitation to my family's gala has been permanently revoked."
